Rebekah was 3 ½ when she had her first Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique experience. I chose the Downtown Disney location because I felt a Bibbidi Bobbidi experience alone was a complete event at age 3 1/2; I did not want to over stimulate her and walking around in a princess dress in Florida’s September heat can be taxing. I booked the first appointment available on the date we chose, if my memory serves me correctly I believe that was 10am. I would highly suggest this; there was not a sole in the Boutique for at least ½ hour of our visit – after that major hustle and bustle! Our Fairy Godmother in training was Millie (from Newark, NJ) and she was amazing as an FGiT (Fairy Godmother in Training), I will explain this further along. Rebekah had chosen to be Snow White; we purchased her dress from our local Marshalls as it was the month before Halloween and they were fully stocked! I recommend doing this if you are interested in a package that includes hair, nails, make-up, and sash (prices have gone up considerably since my last visit). To view the current rates click here
It was a lovely first time experience, the room was decked out in shades of pinks and purples, in the center of the room was a beautiful chandler; it looked like a regal atmosphere. After they had primped her to princess potential (she chose the fairytale princess hair style) out came the fairy dust to complete the transformation. I was so wishing I was of Princess Boutique age, but alas I had to live vicariously through Rebekah. The final touch was her official BBB sash. When they turned her around her face was priceless and I will never forget a moment of it! Upon leaving we were given an official invite to the Princess Parade that would take place later that day in Dowtown Disney Marketplace. It would include the princesses who were inaugurated that day, an impromptu lesson on how to wave to your kingdom as an official princess, and a free ride on the Downtown Disney mini Merry-go-Round. What more could a young lady hope for?!
Since that first BBB experience in 2009, we have been back two other times, as Tiana and Rapunzel. In 2010 we went back to DTD to be made over in the likes of Tiana. This visit we were not so fortunate with our FGIT. Rebekah had very long thick hair at the time (as she did with Millie) and the FGIT was not able to secure her bun in the Fairytale Princess style she requested. As we waited, once again for the Princess Parade it began to fall out. I took her back and they gladly re-secured her bun. Unfortunately it fell out again as the day went on. I knew this was not the norm as it did not happen with Millie from Newark, New Jersey.
Our latest appointment was booked at Cinderella Castle. My husband went to play golf and Rebekah and I took off for the Magic Kingdom for our first BBB Castle experience. My first impression was it appeared much smaller than the DTD location and I didn’t feel it was as Grande a room. I made sure to ask for a very experienced FGIT because of our last occurrence – and we were not disappointed. Our appointment was booked later in the day so I could incorporate a Rapunzel meet-n-greet (who Rebekah chose to dress as) followed by a lunch in the castle (I will be writing a review on this shortly). Because we were booked later in the day we did wait for about ½ hour before we were called. Angela was our very experienced FGIT, I don’t remember how long she has been working as such, but it was quite a while and we had no issue with a loose- cascading bun 😉
If Rebekah wished to return to the BBB in a future visit, I believe I would choose the DTD location and book a “first thing in the morning” appointment. In my opinion it was a more beautiful room with much more space. I was slightly disappointed by my castle experience after first visiting the DTD location. That being said, I exceptionally enjoyed the princess match-up meet-n-greet followed by our castle dining, that could not have been done in DTD.
The Bibbidi Bobiddi Boutique is a bit pricey but is a major memory maker that I wouldn’t have wanted to miss out on. There are many packages available to help it be affordable to all… along with a little creativity of your own!
~Maureen